Verdict delayed in Honduras sex-trafficking case linked to disappearance
A court in Honduras has postponed the verdict in a sex-trafficking case linked to the 2022 disappearance of Angie Pena until November 20, citing the need to review evidence and the return of a court interpreter.
The unexpected postponement of the verdict has been met with criticism, with former Vice Minister of Security Julissa Villanueva stating that it "fuels the perception of impunity, increases public distrust in state security institutions, and prolongs the suffering and vulnerability of affected families."
The case involves four men on trial for crimes related to Pena's disappearance, including two US citizens, Harold Green and William James Murdock, who face human-trafficking charges. Another US citizen, Gary Lee Johnston, and Honduran citizen Gustavo Trejo are accused of criminal association.
Honduran authorities have also sought an Interpol notice for another suspect, US citizen Antony Frank Grayson. The public prosecutor’s office alleges the suspects are part of a network involved in drug trafficking and sex trafficking involving minors.
Case details and witness
Pena went missing on January 1, 2022, after setting out on a jet ski from West Bay on the Honduran island of Roatan. Her jet ski was later found in Belize, some 170km away, which expanded the investigation from a possible accident to a trafficking probe.
In August 2022, authorities investigating the disappearance found a minor in the Roatan house occupied by Johnston, who was later sentenced to 32 years for commercial sex trafficking and child pornography in a separate case.
The case has drawn comparisons to the crimes of the late Jeffrey Epstein, with an analysis by Honduran media finding the country mentioned more than 100 times in the Epstein files, including multiple references to Roatan.
"There are many more women and girls who have been victims of trafficking networks, and those cases are silenced, they go unpunished," said Kenia Paz, a lawyer for the Legal Team for Human Rights, which represents Pena’s family.
Corruption allegations
The trial has been marred by the killing of Dereck McNeil, a key protected witness. In videos made public after his death, McNeil alleged corruption within a special unit of the public prosecutor’s office known as the ATIC, accusing it of leaking information about the case and being linked to drug-trafficking networks.
The ATIC director has denied any corruption and said that the unit has not been involved in investigating Pena’s disappearance.
"There are connections with other larger networks, and only by making them public will this family be able to get justice," said Villanueva. "It’s not just Angie. It’s all those women around Angie. There are many."
Lawyers representing the family have questioned the lack of transparency in the investigation and in the trial, which was not open to the press or the general public.
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